Notes:• With the loss, the Galaxy’s record stands at 4-4-2 on the season, keeping them at 14 points and in first place in the Western Conference standings for the time being with the rest of this weekend’s matches yet to be played.•For only the second time this season, the potent Galaxy offense has been shutout for the first time since an opening day loss to Colorado. It snaps an eight game scoring streak for the club.•ALL-TIME (4 meetings): TFC 2 wins, 6 goals …Galaxy 1 win, 4 goals …Ties 1AT TORONTO: (2 meeting): TFC 1 wins, 2 goals …Galaxy 0 win, 0 goals …Ties 1• This is the second of two meetings between the clubs this season, as the Galaxy make their lone trip to Canada and BMO Field.• The teams played to a scoreless draw in Ontario in their first-ever meeting last year, with the Galaxy winning 2-1 on Victoria Street in the penultimate weekend of the season.• When the teams first met, it was the first MLS game with David Beckham on the LA Galaxy roster (he did not play). They played to a scoreless draw -- for TFC, the fourth game in their 10-match run without a goal in setting an all-time MLS goalless record. For LA, it was the first of three successive shutouts, which came to an end in Beckham's first start in a wild 5-4 loss to New York.• Coaches record: John Carver v LA: P2 W2 L0 D0 … Ruud Gullit vs. TOR: P2 W0 L2 D0• Chris Klein made the 95th consecutive start of his MLS career, surpassing Kevin Hartman for the most consecutive starts in MLS history. The last time that Klein did not start an MLS game for his club was on June 4, 2005 when he missed a game through injury as a member of the Kansas City Wizards. Hartman had originally set the record as a member of the Galaxy when he started 93 consecutive games from August 21, 2002 until September 10, 2005.• Carlos Ruiz made his second appearance off the bench this season as a second half substitute, replacing Mike Randolph in the 67th minute. It was Ruiz’s second MLS appearance since being injured in stoppage time of the season opening defeat to Colorado on March 29.• The attendance for tonight’s game was 20,096.• The Galaxy are back in action on Saturday, June 7 when they host the Colorado Rapids at The Home Depot Center. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. FSN West will broadcast the match live beginning with Galaxy Live at 7:00 p.m. Fans can also tune in live over the airwaves on 1330 KWKW (Spanish) and AM 570 (English).

For those of you up early and looking for something to get you prepared for this afternoon's game against Toronto FC, which can be seen live on FSN West, here is a little audio from yesterday's training session. Let's listen in as the Toronto media chat with Ruud, Edson and Landon.Head Coach Ruud Gullit –On status of Donovan, Missing Beckham, and last meeting vs. TFC…

Friday, May 30, 2008

It is a cold and rainy day in Toronto. The Galaxy trained at BMO Field this afternoon in preparation for tomorrow's match against Torono FC. Conditions are expected to be the same overnight and tomorrow so the players tried to adjust to the slick conditions and bounce (...read skip) of the ball on the pitch.

It was a good session with a little bit of everything from 5v2 to warmups with Neville to a small sided game with full goals to finishing drills before wrapping up with a cool down and stretch. Here are a few snap shots.

As long time Galaxy fans will remember, Carlos Ruiz has a habit of finding his way between the goal posts at the end of training with a pair of 'keeper gloves on his hands. Today, he enlisted roommate Alvaro Pires to join him in goal.

While the team prepares for Saturday's game in Toronto, we thought that we'd pass along some news from here in LA.

The Galaxy are helping to organize a bus trip to San Jose for the game between the two sides on Saturday, June 14. For just $65, Galaxy fans will receive a round trip bus ticket, one match ticket and food at a special "Galaxy Travel Package Tailgate" which will be held at McAfee Coliseum. The buses will depart The Home Depot Center at 9 a.m., and will arrive in Oakland at 4 p.m. The match kicks off at 7 p.m. and the buses will depart Oakland at 10:30 p.m., arriving back at The Home Depot Center at 5:30 a.m., less than 12 hours prior to the start of the first World Cup qualifier of the year as the U.S. faces Barbados at the HDC (2 p.m. kickoff). So if you're up for a great weekend of soccer throughout California, click here to get your tickets for the Galaxy Away Game Travel Package and click here to order tickets for the U.S. game against Barbados.

AEG CEO Tim Leiweke was named "Sports Executive of the Year" by the Sports Business Journal and Sports Business Daily at an awards ceremony in New York City on Thursday night. At the same awards show, Major League Soccer was named the Professional Sports League of the Year.

As we told you yesterday, Landon flew to Toronto on Thursday to be evaluated by the Galaxy's medical staff and his availability would be determined before Saturday's game. This morning U.S. Soccer announced their roster for the friendly against Spain in Santander on June 4, with Landon included in that squad, with a decision on whether or not he will fly to Spain to be decided this weekend after Saturday's game.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

The team is safely checked in at LAX and waiting for our Air Canada flight to Toronto. It is always a good flight with your own in-seat video screen with movies and TV shows. You even get a few indie Canadian movies to put you in the right frame of mind, eh. Here are a few notes to get you up to speed before our flight...

Landon Donovan will be joining the Galaxy in Toronto later today. Armando Rivas, the Galaxy's Head Athletic Trainer has been in touch with Dr. Bert Mandelbaum, who is with the National Team in Spain (he is also the Galaxy's team doctor), as well as U.S. National Team Athletic Trainer Ivan Pierra, formerly of the Galaxy, regarding the status of Landon's injury. We hope to have him available for Saturday, but won't know until he is evaluated by Rivas and his staff on Friday.

Ely Allen, who suffered a concussion in Tuesday night's U.S. Open Cup match against Colorado, will remain in Los Angeles. His status will continued to be monitored and he will be evaluated next week to determine his availability for next weekend's game against Colorado.

Ante Jazic will be missing our second and final trip to Canada of the season, the first being our friendly in Edmonton which marked his return from injury. Instead, he will be in Seattle with the Canadian National Team for their match against Brazil on Saturday. We wish Ante all the best in containing the Brazilian offense. He will also remain with Canada for their friendly against Panama on June 4 in Fort Lauderdale before re-joining the Galaxy.

David Beckham remains with the England National Team following their 2-0 win over the USA. Beckham and the rest of the English squad flew to Trinidad & Tobago today ahead of their match there on Sunday.

We would also like to wish Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin a belated happy 25th birthday.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

The Galaxy's involvement in today's match is over as Becks has been replaced by David Bentley at halftime. He provided the cross for John Terry's first half goal and was dangerous on a couple of other occasions, but could not help England create more than a solitary goal.

Prior to the game, David was given a commemorative gold cap by Sir Bobby Charlton, honoring Becks for reaching the 100 cap plateau in March.

Opening Statement...“I thought that in the first half they [Galaxy] played very well. They had a couple of very good chances from some very good players. It was nice to see Ruiz back out on the field. I thought that we were fortunate in the first half. I thought in the second half we made some adjustments and did not give the room that we gave in the first forty-five minutes. I thought in the second half we created enough chances and played better than we did in the first half. I thought that we were creative and had a great finish from Casey, who is coming back from a torn ACL and hasn’t played eighty minutes in a long, long time. We did enough to come back with the three points.”

On Connor Casey’s play coming back from injury...“We expected him to play forty minutes, to be honest with you. He is six and a half months from ACL surgery and we all know how difficult it is to come back. Sometimes you may be physically fit to play, but mentally sometimes it takes a little bit longer to get back. He holds the ball extremely well and he gives us a chance to get forward. We are not yet in sync with him, but overall I think he did very well and I am very glad. Hopefully tomorrow he is not too sore and we can count on him for Sunday against Dallas.”

On changes made to the lineup this season...“I think we have a very talented roster. We don’t have a super star, but we have a very hard working team. When you look at some of the younger players like LaBrocca, Kimora and Clark coming off a reserve season and give them an opportunity. Everybody feels that they have a fair chance to play. I felt that today in the first half we were a very competitive team and in the second half we produced well and played well and I am extremely happy for some of the younger guys.”

On the change in goalkeeping to bring in Preston Burpo...“We had to make some decisions very quick. Our second goalkeeper is going to Germany with a sports hernia and our number one goal keeper Coundoul is in Senegal right now playing. We were very fortunate today. We have to give value that we have brought to the team someone with experience, and give him the confidence in the first game to be able to get a shutout was a good opportunity to show to the team and to himself that he can get it done.”

COLORADO RAPIDS FORWARD CONOR CASEYOn the goal…The ball went out wide to Cooke. He swung it into me. I think I got between a defender and was able to get a piece of it and direct it back post.

On playing 90 minutes…Great, it’s great. I was out almost seven months. It’s a good way to come back, you know. It wasn’t pretty, but it’s great to get 90 minutes under my legs, score, and help the team win.

LA Galaxy Head Coach RuudGullit...

Opening Statement...We gave some people to opportunity to show themselves. Of course it was a pity that Alvaro was not able to go. I think our problem today was mostly in the midfield. We could not control it and there were players there that usually sit on the bench and we gave them a chance to show themselves and they had some difficulties today. The first half was ok. With Ruiz it was reasonable, and we had incredible chances and did not score. The goalpost was all-time against us and then in the second half we saw players who have not played a lot have a setback because of conditioning and that is normal. I think in the second half we did not play well at all.”

On what the team needs to do to turn things around...“I think the thing that is good is to see the players that think that they need to play to show themselves. Of course the big miss for us was Alvaro because he is very important to us in the midfield. We could not play him because of knee problems which he was already out for. Also we know that we have to play Toronto on turf. Of course we gave the journalists ammunition to say that we cannot play without these two [Beckham and Donovan]. We did not want it, but I do not think its true. I think the biggest problem we had today was in the midfield. If you see the chances we had and you don’t make them. If we made them than it would have been a whole different ballgame. Now everyone is going to write that we cannot play without these two. Well we will accept it for this week.”

On there being a silver lining to losing today’s match...“I would rather have played in the Cup. The only thing that you have to know is that if we had won this game we would have had to play against Toronto and then play again on Tuesday again on turf. We have issues we players on turf. For that reason it is ok, but no I am disappointed by the fact that we are out because we wanted to continue in the Cup. We know that a lot of teams don’t take it as serious as other games. Today Toronto played with players who usually don’t play. We did it also, but we had to for various reasons. I think it is a shame.”

On if the team is missing leadership without Beckham and Donovan...“It is not the leadership. The most important thing is the midfield. I think we were very weak in that department. I thought attacking wise we were ok. We still managed to create so many opportunities today but we did not come through.”

On what today’s game taught him in preparation for Saturday’s game against Toronto...“For me it has because at least now I know what you can rely on and what you can’t but I am still not happy with the fact that we lost a game that we did not need to. It was not necessary.”

On the play of Carlos Ruiz...“I think the first half was ok but you can see that he is still not yet match fit. He was happy to get in the game. I am worried now that he has to play with his own country, when I see that he is not yet fit. Hopefully he comes back well and they don’t use him the whole game. That would be a pity. He has already had setbacks from previous operations when he went back to his country and played a match there and we all know what happened after that. I would rather he stayed here. I think he did some good things, but if he was really match fit is another thing. I am happy with the way that he performed especially in the first half.”

LA GALAXY DEFENDER ANTE JAZICOn playing the full 90 minutes for the first time this season…“It’s good to get 90 minutes, it’s just unfortunate that we lost the match. I thought that we played well in the first half but then our level dropped drastically in the second half and they punished us.”

On not capitalizing on their chances in the first half…“Those are the kind of games where if you don’t kill off the game early it gets more difficult and obviously we didn’t put our chances away and they punished us toward the end. It’s unfortunate, but that’s soccer.”

On the disappointment of being knocked out of the Open Cup…“This club wants to win trophies so when you are eliminated from the U.S. Open Cup it is definitely, almost a tragedy I would say. But now we just have to focus on the season and in the end this year is about making the playoffs and winning the MLS Cup, that’s the ultimate goal, so we have to turn our attention to that.”

Subs Not Used: Mike Graczyk, Tim Ward, Brian Grazier.Notes:· With the loss, the Galaxy’s run in the U.S. Open Cup is over. This is just the third time in club history that the Galaxy did not win a game in the Open Cup. In 2004 the Galaxy were eliminated by the Minnesota Thunder (USL-1st Division) in the Fourth Round of the competition, losing 1-0. In 2007, the Galaxy won a pair of Play-In games (which do not count in official U.S. Open Cup records) but were upset by the Richmond Kickers (USL-2nd Division) in the Third Round, losing 1-0.· Tonight’s game marked the first starts in first team competition for midfielder Ely Allen, forward Carlos Ruiz and defender Ante Jazic since coming back from various injuries. Jazic had started the friendly against Vancouver on May 13 while Allen and Ruiz each came off the bench in the 3-1 win vs. Kansas City on May 24.· With David Beckham and Landon Donovan both away on international duty, midfielder Peter Vagenas was named captain for tonight’s match. Vagenas previously captained the Galaxy to their 2005 MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup titles.· Ely Allen left the game just before halftime with what was diagnosed as a concussion. He was replaced by Mike Randolph.· Israel Sesay entered the game in the 63rd minute, replacing Carlos Ruiz. This was Sesay’s first appearance with the Galaxy first team this season.· The Galaxy have only been shut out twice this season in all competitions (regular season, reserve division and Open Cup), with both coming against the Colorado Rapids. The Galaxy lost their MLS season opener to the Rapids 4-0 on March 29.· Following the game, Ante Jazic will fly to Seattle to join the Canadian National Team for their friendlies against Brazil on May 31 and Panama on June 4 in Fort Lauderdale.· The attendance for tonight’s game was 9,189.· The Galaxy are back in action on Sunday, May 31 when they take on Toronto FC at BMO Field. The match will kick off at 12:30 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on FSN West starting with ‘Galaxy Live’ at 12 p.m. It will also be available live on the radio starting at 12:30 on both AM 570 (English) and ESPN Deportes Radio 1330 KWKW (Spanish).

Fans, have you ever wanted the chance to ask Carlos Ruiz a question? Well here is your chance! You can pose a question to the Galaxy forward in the comments section below this post and we will pose those questions to Carlos.

Many of these questions and responses will run in a special section of La Opinion sometime in mid-June, but we'll also post many of the responses right here on the blog.

So if there is anything that you wanted to ask, post it below by the end of the day on Friday.

He's scored four goals this season, and now for the fourth time, David Beckham is up for the Sierra Mist Goal of the Week Award. With the Galaxy leading 2-1 late on, the Wizards threw everything forward in hopes of an equalizer only to get caught on a counter attack as a KC corner was cleared to Becks who raced forward before letting rip from 70+ yards out, giving Kevin Hartman no chance to get back in goal, much to the delight of the crowd at The Home Depot Center.

Notes:· With the win, the Galaxy’s record stands at 4-3-2 on the season, giving them 14 points and leaving in first place in the Western Conference standings.· The last time that the Galaxy were in first place was on May 8, 2005 when they had a 4-1-0 record.· The Galaxy are now above .500 for the first time since October 1, 2005.· The Galaxy came from behind to win 3-1; it was their first come-from behind win in MLS play since October 7, 2007. On that day, Carlos Pavon and Gavin Glinton scored to erase a 1-0 deficit as the Galaxy defeated Houston 2-1 at Robertson Stadium.· Chris Klein made the 94th consecutive start of his MLS career, surpassing Kevin Hartman for the most consecutive starts in MLS history. The last time that Klein did not start an MLS game for his club was on June 4, 2005 when he missed a game through injury as a member of the Kansas City Wizards. Hartman had originally set the record as a member of the Galaxy when he started 93 consecutive games from August 21, 2002 until September 10, 2005.· Galaxy forward Landon Donovan scored his MLS best ninth goal of the season. He also added his MLS best sixth assist in the game, meaning the he is alone in the league lead in both categories.· Edson Buddle scored his fourth goal of the season in the 74th minute. It was his second game-winning goal in as many games. The last time that a Galaxy player scored the game-winner in back-to-back games was on August 20 and August 26, 2006.· Ely Allen made his first appearance in more than a month, replacing Joe Franchino in the 41st minute. Allen had been sidelined with a hamstring injury.· Carlos Ruiz returned to the lineup as a second half substitute, replacing Landon Donovan in the 84th minute. It was Ruiz’s first appearance since being injured in stoppage time of the season opening defeat to Colorado on March 29.· The Galaxy have not lost to the Wizards in MLS regular season play since October 16, 2004. LA is now 4-0-2 in that time, including 3-0-1 at The Home Depot Center.· The attendance for tonight’s game was 24,176.· The Galaxy are back in action on Tuesday, May 27 when they host the Colorado Rapids at The Home Depot Center in a U.S. Open Cup Play-In Game. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. 1220 KWKU (Spanish) will carry the game live on the radio while fans can also listen live in English at http://www.lagalaxy.com/.

Post game reaction...

Galaxy Forward Edson Buddle

On having another game winning goal:“It feels good, definitely. It is too bad that we could not put the game away early, but it feels good to keep things going.”

On last week’s performance carrying over to this week:I just try to think of practice when I think of the game. I think in training we are finding each other and playing with confidence. We started off slow but we still could have put the game away early.”

On getting the win and moving into first place:“I think it was a very big deal for us, with Houston losing, it was a big deal to get those three points at home. I think no matter what, we should definitely win at home.”

Midfielder Ely Allen

On getting back into the game after injury:“It was good to get a win. It was my first time back playing in four weeks. Coach called my name, I got up, got ready and I was determined to help the team get a win. I am still getting back into it, still getting into the rhythm of things, but overall I think it went well. I am happy with my performance.”

Forward Carlos Ruiz

On playing his first game since March:It felt very good. I was very happy to get back out on the field. I got to play the last six minutes of the game and I had a couple of chances to score.”

On when he thinks he will get back into the game:We have another game Tuesday, so maybe the coach can give me a couple of more minutes and I will try to play to the level that I need to be at.”

Defender Abel Xavier

On coming back from a one goal deficit:“I think we showed a lot of character in the way we reacted because today we faced a good team. They started the game well and were very focused. I think we showed in the way that we reacted that we can be a good team.”

Here we are at The Home Depot Center and the lineups are in with Ruud sending out an unchanged starting XI tonight against the Wizards. Here is what we'll see from the Galaxy tonight.

------------------Buddle----------------------

-----------------Donovan-------------Beckham

----------Franchino-------McDonald----------

--------------------Pires----------------------

Vanney------Franklin-----Xavier---------Klein

---------------------Cronin--------------------

Subs: Wicks, Roberts, Jazic, Vagenas, Allen, Gordon and Ruiz.

Also, the Galaxy Rios U20s defeated Poway 6-0 this afternoon to improve their record to 2-0-0. The Rios have scored 11 goals in their two games and are yet to concede a goal. David Estrada scored three times on the afternoon to spearhead the victory, while Kyle Nakazawa, Camillo Rojas and Amani Walker each added individual tallies.

In the latest installment of Rollin’ with Rogo, FSN Analyst Mark Rogondino looks for the Galaxy to feed off the momentum from last weekend’s big win in Dallas. LA returns to the warm confines of The Home Depot Center to try and accomplish something that has eluded them twice already this year - beating an Eastern Conference team. Kansas City Wizards' coach, Curt Onalfo, has done a fantastic job over the last year and a half molding this team into a contender in the Eastern Conference. Check it out here.

In This Week Inside the Galaxy, forward Edson Buddle takes us back to relive his hat-trick versus Dallas, behind the scenes as Ruud checks back in with his Sky Sports colleagues and to join a few rookies as they watch the Champions' League Final. Plus, we have a quick preview of tonight's match against Kansas City. So, sit back, relax and enjoy the latest TWIG.

Come Wednesday, Landon Donovan and David Beckham could very well be facing each other when their national teams take to the field at Wembley. If Donovan plays, he will receive his 100th cap, a milestone that Beckham reached earlier this year.

Galaxy defender Michael Gavin and forward Bryan Jordan made their U-23 debuts as the U.S. fell to the Ivory Coast 1-0, on a converted penalty kick this afternoon at the Toulon International Tournament in France.

Both Galaxy players started the game, but Jordan was subbed out in the 71st minute by head coach Peter Nowak. Although he played a full 90 during the first U.S. game, Julian Valentin was on the bench for the match but was not used.

Despite having just returned from five months on the sidelines through injury, Ante Jazic has been included in Canada's 23-man squad for their upcoming friendlies against Brazil and Panama. The Canucks will face Brazil on May 31 in Seattle and then Panama four days later in Fort Lauderdale.

These matches will serve as a tune-up for Dale Mitchell's team ahead of their upcoming World Cup Qualifiers against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, which will be played on June 15 (in Kingston, St. Vincent) and June 20 (in Montreal).

Jazic, who has 22 career caps for Canada, underwent ankle surgery in December and returned to the Galaxy lineup in May 13 when he played 61 minutes in a friendly against Vancouver in Edmonton. He was on the bench but did not play against FC Dallas last weekend and is expected to again be available for selection this weekend against Kansas City before flying to Seattle on Sunday. He is one of six MLS players included in the squad.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Well there was one player who said that the match would finish 1-1 with United winning on penalties and that man was none other than Landon Donovan.

He leads MLS in goals scored, he's tied for the league lead in assists and he's a Nostradamus when it comes to picking results. He even said that Edwin Van der Sar would be the Man of the Match, and after that final penalty save, who can say that he was anything but 100% right.

Galaxy defender Julian Valentin started and played the full 90 minutes in central defense as the U.S. Under-23s fell to Turkey 3-2 this morning at the Toulon International Tournament in France.

The LA rookie almost helped earn a share of the points late on as his long ball picked out Brek Shea who got himself into a dangerous position, only to be pulled back by a Turkish defender. However, the referee did not see it that way and the Turks were able to hold on for a win in the tournament opener for both sides.

Bryan Jordan and Michael Gavin were both on the bench for the match but were not used by head coach Peter Nowak.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Alexi will be a guest tonight on Fox Sports Radio's JT "The Brick", with the pair primarily discussing tomorrow's Champions League Final. Alexi goes on at 10 p.m. (PT) so be sure to tune in. (Check local listings here or listen live online.)

Also, Ruud will be at The Home Depot Center tomorrow where he will be a guest on the pregame and postgame shows on Sky Sports. Ruud will be live via satellite and we'll be sure to get some video of the proceedings so be sure to check back.

The Champions League Final will be played tomorrow in Moscow, with Chelsea taking on Manchester United. Both clubs are represented in the Galaxy locker room (Ruud played and managed Chelsea while David played at United) so we thought that we would ask the players, coaches and backroom staff for their predictions on the game.

We received 31 total responses (21 players, four coaches and six support staff) and here is what we found...

Fifteen players and four members of the staff picked Manchester United to win. Twelve picked Chelsea to leave Moscow with the trophy.

The most common choice in the score was a 2-1 win for Manchester United, with eight people selecting that as your final scoreline.

From the six players and six members from the staff who picked Chelsea to win, five expect the Blues to win 2-1.

Two players and a coach are predicting the game come down to penalties, with two of them foreseeing Manchester United coming out victorious, while one is predicting Chelsea to take it.

Two are predicting a high-scoring, 3-2 game, but those two are split with who is leaving Moscow with the trophy.

From the Manchester United fans, seven picked Cristiano Ronaldo to win Man of the Match honors, with Paul Scholes coming in a close second with five picks. Carlos Tevez was picked three times and Wayne Rooney twice, with Owen Hargreaves and Edwin van der Sar getting one nod each.

From the Chelsea hopefuls, six think Didier Drogba will walk away as the player of the match. Michael Ballack came in second with two votes, followed by Michael Essien, Petr Cech and Joe Cole with a vote a piece.

Eleven are predicting a shutout. While the most common score line in the shutout scenario is 1-0, two players are predicting a 3-0 shutout for the Red Devils.

From the eight Galaxy rookies, six are predicting a Manchester United win, while two think Chelsea will win.

Out of the seven players born outside the U.S., four foresee Manchester United winning.

Out of the veterans on the team, eight picked Manchester United and five picked Chelsea to win.

When averaged, the Galaxy keepers, forwards and defenders have Manchester United win by a 2-1 score, while the midfielders have Manchester United winning 2-0.

However, the goalkeepers do not have much faith in their Chelsea or United counterparts as all predict at least three goals to be scored and none see either keeper keeping a clean sheet.

But most importantly, the author of this post sees Chelsea gaining revenge after losing out on the title, and walking away with a 3-1 win courtesy of a pair of goals from Frank Lampard.

On Monday morning Galaxy head coach Ruud Gullit was officially relieved of all walking duties as he underwent microfracture surgery on his left knee, as well as having a meniscus tear in the same knee repaired. Ruud was back at training this morning with his trusted chauffeur Cobi Jones driving him back to the locker room following the morning session.

The surgery will not impede Ruud from his daily coaching duties both in training or on game days, though it will be funny to see him shouting instructions from the sidelines while resting on his crutches for the next couple of weeks.

In other news, Edson was voted Player of the Week on Monday. It was the sixth time that he has been named Player of the Week and it's the fifth time in eight weeks this season that a Galaxy player had won the award. After winning the award, Edson was a guest on MLS Extratime with Greg Lalas and Shep Messing so be sure to check that out starting Wednesday at mlsnet.com

Gavin, BJ and Julian open the Toulon International Tournament on Wednesday against Turkey. That game can be seen live on Fox Soccer Channel starting at 6:30 a.m. (PT).

Lastly, we just got word that Landon Donovan was named in the 22-man squad for the friendly against England at Wembley on May 28. Donovan, who will earn his 100th cap if he plays in the game, will join up with the rest of the U.S. team after this weekend's game against the Wizards.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Rather than spend our Sunday in Dallas celebrating yesterday's fantastic win over FC Dallas, we flew back to LA with the rest of the squad last night. With that said, here is a bumper edition of This Week Inside the Galaxy. We took the video crew to Edmonton to capture all the action and as a result we have so much content that we had to break the show up into two parts.

Notes:· With the win, the Galaxy’s record stands at 3-3-2 on the season, giving them 11 points and leaving in second place in the Western Conference standings.· Chris Klein made the 93rd consecutive start of his MLS career, tying him with Kevin Hartman for the most consecutive starts in MLS history. Hartman set the record as a member of the Galaxy when he started 93 consecutive games from August 21, 2002 until September 10, 2005.· Klein scored his first goal of the season in the 25th minute of the game, making him just the fourth different Galaxy player to score this season.· Six minutes later, Buddle became the fifth different Galaxy player to score.· Buddle added his second goal of the year in the 39th minute, giving him his first multi-goal game as a member of the Galaxy.· He then added a tally in the 85th minute to complete the hat trick, giving him his third career hat trick and the second by a Galaxy player this season. Landon Donovan had the Galaxy’s first hat trick this season, scoring three times in a 5-2 win over Chivas USA on April 26.· The Galaxy scored four goals in a 14-minute span to take a 4-0 halftime lead, but it was not the fastest four goals in Galaxy history. On June 4, 1998, the Galaxy got four goals in a six minute span during an 8-1 win over Dallas.· Abel Xavier, Alvaro Pires and Edson Buddle each returned to the starting lineup today after missing time with injury. Pires missed the last month of action with a left knee injury while Buddle left early in the 2-2 draw at Real Salt Lake on May 3 with a hamstring strain. Xavier missed the game in Salt Lake, as well as last week’s 2-1 loss to New York with a left knee injury.· This was the Galaxy’s first road win of the 2008 season, improving their road record to 1-1-1 on the season. Last year, the Galaxy did not get their first road win until September 27 in Kansas City.· The attendance for this afternoon’s game was 22,331.· The Galaxy are back in action in on Saturday, May 24 when they host the Kansas City Wizards at The Home Depot Center. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live only on HDNet.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Be sure to tune into FOX 11 News at 10 p.m. tonight for the Wednesday's Child segment with Christine Devine and Chris Klein. Wednesday's Child is a weekly adoption feature aimed at finding LA-area foster children a permanent and loving home. The show will re-air Sunday night news at 10pm.

Notes: · Ante Jazic made his first Galaxy appearance since undergoing ankle surgery in late December. He played the opening 61 minutes before being replaced by Michael Gavin.· Josh Wicks and Julian Valentin each made their first team debuts for the Galaxy. Wicks played the full 90 minutes in goal while Valentin came on at halftime in place of Greg Vanney.· Wicks finished the game with eight saves.· Michael Gavin, Julian Valentin and Bryan Jordan will leave for France tomorrow where they will represent the U.S. Under-23 National Team at the Toulon International Tournament.· Alan Gordon’s goal was his second in as many games and his third in friendlies this season after also tallying during LA’s preseason friendlies in Seoul and Hong Kong.· The Galaxy are now 0-1-1 all-time against Vancouver after tying the Whitecaps 0-0 in Vancouver in November 2007.· The Galaxy’s record in friendlies this season is now 2-2-3, including the two games at the Pan-Pacific Championship, three games at Asia Tour 2008 and a friendly against FC Dallas.· The attendance for tonight’s game was 37,104.· The Galaxy are back in action on Sunday, May 18 when they take on FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park. The match will kick off at 12 p.m. and can be seen live on FSN West and Telefutura.

And it wasn't the best of starts as former D.C. United forward Nicholas Adderly scored for Vancouver in the 4th minute, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead.

Here is the LA lineup.

------------------Jordan-------Gordon------------------

Randolph-------Franchino-----Tudela----------Beckham

Jazic-----------Vanney---------Xavier---------Roberts

------------------------Wicks----------------------------

and Vancouver's

--------------------Adderly----Sebrango-----------------

Valente---------Kindel-------------Nash----------Donatelli

Hirano----------Cann--------------Jaron----------Martin

------------------------Djekanovic------------------------

13 - Ante works his way out of danger in his own defensive third. Good to see him back on the ball. The last time that he played for the Galaxy was in the 4-1 win over Wellington in New Zealand so this is a long time coming.

16 - Joey fires a heavy left-footed shot that Djekanovic punches over the bar for a corner.

17 - Randolph's fires a left-footed shot low on goal with Djekanovic palms around the post.

28 - Wicks does well to save and hold a header from Tony Donatelli from the center of the box.

The lower bowl is almost completely packed here tonight and by all the flash bulbs popping when David goes over to take a corner, it seems as if they all have cameras.

36 - Beckham draws a series of oohs and aaahs from the crowd as he volleys wide from 25 yards out.

38 - The Galaxy continue to push forward with Franchino firing wide with his left from the top of the box.

39 - BJ is pulled downgiving Becks a freekick from the right flank which he curls into the box for Abel whose header is blocked and cleared.

44 - Gordo ties it up, beating Djekanovic to a header off a long ball from Beckham on the right, tying the score at 1-1.

We've hit the half with the score level, 1-1.

One change at the half for LA with Julian Valentin coming on for Greg Vanney on central defense. There were a host of changes for the Whitecaps with Jay Nolly going in goal, Jeff Clarke, Justin Moose and Vicente Arze going into midfield, meaning the Srdjan Djekanovic, Tony Donatelli, Martin Nash and Alfredo Valente coming off.

48 - Franchino booked for a foul in midfield, seemed like a bit of retaliation after he was taken out a minute earlier.

53- Tudela's header puts Jordan through and he beats Nolly with a right-footed shot, only to be whistled for offsides.

60 - Gordo booked for pulling back Justin Moose in midfield.

61 - Gavin on for Jazic and Nick Webb on for Adderly.

66 - GOAL - 2-1 Vancouver - Justin Moose picks up a loose pass in midfield and plays it down the right flank for Nick Webb whose low cross finds Eduardo Sebrango whose first time shot beats Wicks at his left post.

71 - Valentin gives it away at the top of the box allowing Webb to sneak in, only for Wicks to claim the ball at his feet.

72 - Wicks makes a pair of fine saves from close range, first on Webb and then on Moose.

They've just announced the attendance at 37,104. Another great crowd at a Galaxy friendly.

76 - Becks comes off for Chris Klein, with David receive a standing ovation while passing the captain's armband to Abel.

78 - Mason Webb on for Steve Kindel for the Whitecaps as well as Randy Bonsu coming on for Eduardo Sebrango. Anze booked for a foul on Troy.

79 - Diaz Kambere on for Takashi Hirano for the hosts.

80 - Cross from Klein on the right is just too far for Randolph who was sliding in at the back post.

They just made two interesting announcements here at the stadium. One, there will be penalties if the score is level after 90 minutes and secondly, there was a 50/50 raffle with thet winner earning more than $14,000. However, they only have 10 minutes to get to the press box to claim it, a rather daunting possibility if you are on the other side of the stadium.

87 - A scrum inside the box sees the ball fall for Nick Webb whose first shot hits Franchino on the line with the rebound being fired high and wide.

Update - the 50/50 winner made it and everyone is happy.

Three minutes of stoppage time on the board as LA pushes for an equalizer.

An appeal for handball (warranted from up here) is not given, earning the referee a stern talking to and a series of peculiar looks from the Galaxy bench.

92 - Wicks first gets a fingertip on a low cross, just keeping it out of the rach of Bonsu before bravely saving at the feet of Webb.

Of those 18, three will not accompany the team back to LA tonight as Michael Gavin, Bryan Jordan and Julian Valentin will each fly to France (with a few connections in between) to join up with Peter Nowak's U.S. Under-23 National Team for the Toulon International Tournament.

Here is a bit of what Gavin had to say about his call-up.

Here is a press conference that was held a couple of weeks ago at The Home Depot Center in advance of tonight's game, as well as some highlights and postgame sound from last weekend's loss to the Red Bulls.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Tristan Bowen, the first player signed into the Galaxy Rios program scored three times while Kyle Nakazawa and Amani Walker each scored once, giving the Under-20 Galaxy Rios a 5-0 win over Ventura County in their first game of the Super-20 season in Ventura this evening.

With the loss, the Galaxy’s record stands at 2-3-2 on the season, giving them eight points and leaving them tied for third place in the Western Conference standings.

Galaxy forward Bryan Jordan made his MLS debut in the 83rd minute, coming on for Joe Franchino.

Alan Gordon’s goal in the 77th minute was the 10th of his MLS career. Gordon is the 20th player in Galaxy history to score 10 or more goals with the club.

Chris Klein made the 92nd consecutive start of his MLS career, leaving him within one game of tying Kevin Hartman’s MLS record of 93 consecutive starts that he put together from August 21, 2002 until September 10, 2005.

With the loss, the Galaxy are now 0-2-0 against the MLS Eastern Conference, compared to 2-1-2 against the West.

The attendance for tonight’s game was 27,000. It is the second consecutive home sellout for the Galaxy and third in five home meatches this season.

On Monday the Galaxy will fly to Edmonton, Alberta Canada where they will play a friendly against the Vancouver Whitecaps on Tuesday, May 13. That game will kick off at 6 p.m. (PT) and be aired on KWHY Channel-22.

The Galaxy are back in action in MLS play on Sunday, May 18 when they host the New York Red Bulls at The Home Depot Center. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live on FSN West.

The Galaxy Rios Under-20 team will kick off their inaugural season on Sunday evening when they take on the Ventura County Fusion at 5 p.m. The match will be played at Ventura College (4667 Telegraph Road, Ventura, CA) and we're still waiting to hear if there is a cost for tickets.

Monday, May 5, 2008

What's a Monday morning without a Galaxy player nominated for the Sierra Mist Goal of the Week. This week however, we have two choices to choose from as both of Becks' strikes have been nominated. Those goals also helped David earn his second Player of the Week award this season. Galaxy players have now won that award four times in the first six weeks of the season.

After a series of technical difficulties, here is the second episode of This Week Inside the Galaxy.

We look back at the win over Chivas USA, look ahead to RSL, visit The Underground with Alexi Lalas, have a chat with Alan Gordon and lastly, take a look back as the coaching staff has some fun in Hong Kong..

Notes:· With the draw, the Galaxy’s record stands at 2-2-2 on the season, giving them eight points and leaving them in second place in the Western Conference standings.· David Beckham scored twice for the Galaxy giving him three on the season. This was the first multi-goal game of his MLS career.· This is the fourth consecutive game in which the Galaxy have had a player score more than one goal, setting a new team record. Prior to today, the club record had been three straight games, which was first set on June 4, June 7 and June 18 in 1998 and then matched by Landon Donovan over the past three games.· Galaxy goalkeeper Steve Cronin tied a career-high with five saves in the match.· Edson Buddle was forced to leave the game in the 12th minute with a right hamstring strain. He was replaced by Alan Gordon.· Defender Troy Roberts made his first start of the 2008 MLS season for the Galaxy. He is the 19th different player to start a game for the Galaxy this season. Only Charles Alamo, Vito Higgins, Ante Jazic, Bryan Jordan, Israel Sesay, Julian Valentin and Josh Wicks have not started a game for the Galaxy this season.· The attendance for tonight’s game was 25,500.· The Galaxy are back in action on Saturday, May 10 when they host the New York Red Bulls at The Home Depot Center. The match will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen live on FSN West.

The reserves are back in action on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. (PT). We'll have more on that one tomorrow.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Well, what can we say, fans here in Salt Lake City really get behind their team. We were all very impressed with the constant noise level that the Jazz fans brought tonight. Hopefully a lot of them are RSL fans as well and they'll be too worn down to get loud tomorrow night.

For those of you who might have Tivo'ed the game, we won't tell you the result, we'll just end the basketball talk by saying that some fans left happy, some left sad and there were more from one side than the other.

A number of our players were there for part of the game (with better seats than we had might I say) but because of the game's late start time, they had to leave before the final horn.

As an earlier poster pointed out, it was in fact David's birthday on Friday. There was nothing big going on (that we know of) in the team, just the standard well wishes of everyone, including some of the other passengers on the plane and at the airports.

Six players did not make the trip as Alamo, Ante, Fish, Ely, Alvaro and Abel all remained in LA with the other 20 ready to go. The only surprise on there to many of you who will sit out as a precautionary measure.

The reserves are back in action on Sunday morning and there will be four guest players in uniform. UCLA products Brandon Owens and Greg Folk, whose MLS rights are still owned by the Galaxy, will arrive tomorrow as will Mike Munoz and Raul Palomares. That game will kick off at 10 a.m.

Lastly, we've had some technical issues getting a chance to post the second episode of This Week Inside the Galaxy, so until we can sort that out, here is a compilation of all eight goals scored last month by Landon Donovan.

We've arrived here in Utah and settled in to the hotel. While most of the guys have their night before the game rituals, we here at The Blog are always looking for some excitement so we've made the short walk over to Game Six of the NBA Playoffs between the Jazz and Houston Rockets.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

It comes as no surprise to any of us that Landon Donovan has been named the MLS Player of the Month for the month of April.

Landon scored eight goals and assisted on two others in four games this month, tying him with three others for the second most goals in a single month. Only Stern John scored more when he tallied nine in August 1998 for the Columbus Crew

Congrats to LD and we'll have more on this breaking situation later on. [UPDATE]

And here are a couple of notes about Landon from this weekend's game notes.

LANDON LANDS A PAIR OF AWARDS: On Thursday it was announced that Galaxy forward Landon Donovan was named the MLS Player of the Month for April by the North American Soccer Reporters. It was the third time in his career that Donovan had been named the Player of the Month but the first time as a member of the Galaxy. He joins Mauricio Cienfuegos, Eduardo Hurtado, Cobi Jones, Alejandro Moreno, Carlos Ruiz and Welton as the seventh player to be named Player of the Month with the Galaxy.

Earlier in the week, Donovan was named the MLS Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. Donovan had his second career hat trick and added an assist to lead the Galaxy to a convincing 5-2 win over Chivas USA in the Honda SuperClasico. It was the seventh time in his MLS career that Donovan has taken the award, leaving him tied with Jason Kreis and Taylor Twellman for the third most in MLS history. Donovan is the first repeat winner of the award since Eddie Johnson was named Player of the Week during Weeks 8 and 9 of the 2007 MLS season.

AN ELITE EIGHT: Donovan finished the month of April with eight goals in four games, making him the fifth different player in league history to score at least eight goals in a month. Stern John of the Columbus Crew holds the MLS record with nine goals in August 1998, while Mamadou Diallo (August 2000), Donovan, Roy Lassiter (August 1996) and Diego Serna (September 2000 and June 2001) have each scored eight in a month. In three of the previous five cases, the player to score eight or more times would later go on to win the MLS Player of the Month award for that month.

With the eight goals, Donovan, who scored eight goals all of last season to lead the Galaxy in scoring, also set the MLS record for most goals over the first five games of the season, breaking the former mark of six, which was held by five different players.

HAT TRICK HERO: Donovan’s hat trick against Chivas USA on Saturday night was the second of his MLS career and his first since joining the Galaxy in 2005. The 26-year old claimed his first hat trick nearly five years earlier while with the san Jose Earthquakes, scoring three times in their 4-1win in Kansas City. With the three goals, Donovan became the first player this season to record a hat trick and the 17th in MLS history to have two or more hat tricks in his MLS career. Stern John and Diego Serna are tied for the MLS record with five each.

INTO THE TOP TEN: With his three goals, Donovan leapfrogged Cobi Jones and Ronald Cerritos into 10th place on the MLS list of all-time leading goalscorers. Donovan now has 72 regular season MLS goals in 163 games, leaving him seven goals behind Preki for ninth place in MLS history and nine behind his teammate Carlos Ruiz for eighth place.

Donovan is also third in Galaxy history with 40 goals for the club, 10 behind Ruiz for second place and 30 goals behind Cobi Jones for the most in club history. He leads MLS with eight goals this season and could become the first Galaxy player since Carlos Ruiz in 2003 to lead the league in scoring.

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One of Major League Soccer's original clubs, the LA Galaxy play their home games at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. A two-time winner of both the MLS Cup (2002 and 2005) and Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup (2001 and 2005), the Galaxy boast a strong and rich history in MLS and around the world. With a roster that features stars like David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Edson Buddle and more under the eye of general manager and head coach Bruce Arena, the Galaxy will look to return to the pinnacle of MLS in 2010.